Graphic pro-Israel ads make their way into children’s video games

nypost.com:

and blurred graphic footage. Over a black screen, a message from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the first grader: “WE WILL MAKE SURE THAT THOSE WHO HARM US PAY A HEAVY PRICE.”Assis, a 28-year-old barista from Brazil, said that the ad left her son shaken and she quickly deleted the game.“He was shocked,” she said in a telephone interview last week. “He literally said, ‘What is this bloody ad doing in my game?'”Reuters has not been able to establish how the ad came to her son’s video game, but her family isn’t alone.

The news agency has documented at least five other cases across Europe where the same pro-Israel video, which carried footage of rocket attacks, a fiery explosion, and masked gunmen, was shown to gamers, including several children.In at least one case, the ads were played inside the popular “Angry Birds” game made by SEGA-owned developer Rovio.Rovio confirmed that “somehow these ads with disturbing content have in error made it through to our game” and were now being blocked manually.

Spokesperson Lotta Backlund did not provide details on which of its “dozen or so ad partners” had supplied it with the ad.Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ head of digital, David Saranga, confirmed that the video was a government-promoted ad but said he had “no idea” how it ended up inside various games.He said the footage was part of a larger advocacy drive by the Israeli Foreign Ministry, which has spent $1.5 million on internet ads since Hamas’ Oct.

7 attack on civilians in southern Israel ignited war in Gaza.He said officials had specifically instructed advertisers “to block it for people under 18.”Saranga defended the graphic nature of the ad campaign.“We want the world to understand that what happened here.